Making a start

So what have you done, Pete? »

Making a start

by Pureteenlard @ 13 Apr. 2007 – 07:57:10 pm

Well this is it. The first weekend in god-alone-knows how long when I'm not working and, more importantly, J has no jobs around the house and garden for me to do.

However, before I can get to grips with making my hull, I have to get rid of some of the crap stored in my garage. This is made easier by the company giving me a new company car. It's a Nissan Navarra - roughly the size and weight of a full size Valentine and rather more difficult to park. It does have a big load bay though.

I shall post the URL of this blog on the mail list of RCTankcombat.com so that members can read it and put helpful comments up (such as "Why haven't you done anything for SIX MONTHS, Pete?).

More to come. . .
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22 Comments to Making a start

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- Norm (Visitor)
- 14 Apr. 2007 @ 12:37:57 am
Excellent! Good luck, and I plan on checking in often.
I've been looking for some other good build up sites.
Once I get the time and funds (us married folks have to get clearance for spending money on this kind of thing) I'm planning an Sd Kfz 234/2 "Puma".
To start of, Why the Valentine-XI?
- - Pureteenlard
  - 14 Apr. 2007 @ 01:26:25 pm
  I too have to keep she-who-must-be-obeyed happy . . .
  
  Why the Valentine XI? Well, like me, it's british. For ease of construction it's made from flat plates (turret excepted), the suspension and wheels can all be made using commercially available bits and in 1/6th scale it works out at almost exactly 3' long to conform with RC TANK COMBAT rules. Actually I vacilated between the Valentine, Crusader III and Centurion for weeks before making a choice. I Kept thinking of reasons why one would be easier to build than another and never got around to doing anything. Finally I rolled a die and the Valentine won . . . and a late model one at that. It may end up as a Valentine IX or X depending on whether I can be bothered making a muzzle brake and a BESA mount or not.
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- Bob (Visitor)
- http://members.dslextreme.com/users/rbottomleysr/
- 14 Apr. 2007 @ 07:17:38 pm
Welcome to the club, I took six months selecting a model and then making drawings for the first bits that have to be constructed. My selection is a Cromwell MK IV. The reason I chose the Cromwell is the slab sided turret, very easy to construct.
Good luck in your project,

Bob
- - Pureteenlard
  - 15 Apr. 2007 @ 08:48:49 pm
  Actually when I first found RCtankcombat.com my first thought was to build a Cromwell. Like you say, slab sided turrets make building easier. But I couldn't bring myself to build one after someone else had built one. This is silly, I know, but I've suffered from a desire to have different things to everyone else for many years. this is why I rode a TRX 850 when all my mates were on 140hp+ R1's, Blades and Ninjas. Cost me a mint in depreciation . . . :-)
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- - Neil (Visitor)
  - 07 May. 2007 @ 03:38:20 pm
  Bob wrote "Welcome to the club,"
  
  What club is this?
  I`m intrested
  Contact me please @
  
  funkyneroc@ntlworld.com
  
  thanks
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- neil (neroc) (Visitor)
- 16 Apr. 2007 @ 04:30:40 pm
Hi buddy. If you spend as much time sawing,drilling and banging as you do typing then you should be allright
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- Bob (Visitor)
- http://members.dslextreme.com/users/rbottomleysr/
- 18 Apr. 2007 @ 06:59:23 pm
I have some bad news for you.
Tank #T036 on RC Tank Combat is a Valentine MK IV.
So it has been done before, you have to choose another model.
How about a Crusader?
(LOL)
Bob
- - Pureteenlard
  - 07 May. 2007 @ 08:38:46 pm
  You know I think I might make a Crusader instead of a Valentine . . . but then I'd have to change the title of the blog!
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- Pureteenlard
- 18 Apr. 2007 @ 09:18:45 pm
Valentine IV? PAH! I spit on it's puny early Valentine-ishness!

Actually it never seemed to get past the rolling chassis stage so I decided it only counted if he finished it before I finish mine.
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- John Pearson (Visitor)
- 26 Jul. 2007 @ 09:14:56 pm
I own the surviving Valentine IXDD (1:1 scale!) If I can be of any assistance with your project please do not hesitate to contact me. Cheers. John Pearson
- - Pureteenlard
  - 18 Aug. 2007 @ 11:00:32 pm
  Wow! I should check these older entries more often because, John, that is an amazing thing to own. A Valentine must be fairly rare in this day and age but a DD?
  
  Anyway, due to buying motors too big to fit a 1/6th Valentine hull I have moved on to a Centurion BUT I will come back to the Valentine because she's such a an attractive subject. Promise.
  - - John Pearson (Visitor)
    - 19 Aug. 2007 @ 11:40:19 pm
    So far as I know, my Val DD is the sole survivng one, except for the ones on the sea bed. I think there are about 25 complete Valentines in the world, perhaps 10 are runners. As soon as you return to the Valentine, drop me an email and I will do what I can to help.
    - - Pureteenlard
      - 29 Aug. 2007 @ 04:36:11 pm
      I forgot to ask the most important question; Which engine has your Valentine got?
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- John Pearson (Visitor)
- 13 Sep. 2007 @ 09:06:47 pm
My Valentine, along with all Valentine DD's (apart from the two prototypes) has a GMC 6.71 deisel engine. I know that some lightweight reference books say that DD's were built on Mk III and VIII hulls but this is rubbish. In fact they were all built on 6.71 hulls: Mk V, IX and XI except for the first two which were AEC engines Mk II's.
- - Pureteenlard
  - 18 Sep. 2007 @ 09:42:47 pm
  Is the Mk IX hull welded? I think the XI is but I would guess that it would be a right bugger to make a rivetted or bolted hull watertight.
  
  Next time you do a show, can you drop me a line ( Pureteenlard@hotmail.com )? I'd love to see it!
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- John Pearson (Visitor)
- 22 Sep. 2007 @ 10:08:57 pm
Some Mk IX's were welded, the ones built at Vickers in Newcastle, then their Mk X's and XI's were as well. Two welded MkIX 'land' tanks survive, one at Bovington and one at Antwerp, the store for the Belgian Army Museum. There may be another in Northern India but I can't get confirmation.
Most if not all of the Valentines built by Metropolitan Vickers were rivetted and as all of the DD's were built by Metro.....unfortunately they were almost all rivetted. You are correct in that saying that it was a right bugger to keep them watertight. I understand from a veteran that they were used for a dozen to twenty practice launches and landings and then having done maybe 100 miles they were returned to workshops and new wheels, wheel bearings, tracks etc were fitted , the hull rivets tightened up and new or repaired canvas fitted. Then they went into store and were re-issued. In theory, the XI's were intended for operational use only so were only used for training once the Sherman became available.
When I got it, my tank had the new tracks and wheels and had 122 miles on the clock. It also had layers of seaside sand in the crevices so I think mine was issued and repaired once and was then never re-issued, being sold out of service in 1946.
From the way you write the date (m/d/y) I assumed you were based in the US? I only show my tank in the UK and appearances for next year are not yet confirmed but tend to be in the Midlands of England, West and East and also in Kent in July at Beltring. I live near to Wolverhampton, West Midlands. If you can get there, you can come and see it almost anytime if you wish.
Cheers
John
- - Pureteenlard
  - 28 Sep. 2007 @ 07:59:05 pm
  I'm english but the supplier of the blog software isn't. I live just up the road from you in Stoke so I would love to come down and have a look - what a treat!
  
  I have another question for you, if you don't mind. You seem to have thoroughly researched the Valentine in all it's marks; Was the MkXI only issued as a command tank for Archer equipped units? I keep seeing this in various books and web sites but I thought the Archer would be a Royal Artillery responsibility and I never heard of the RA having tanks. Also, the XI with it's two man turret seems an unlikely choice for a command vehicle.
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- John Pearson (Visitor)
- 04 Oct. 2007 @ 07:56:27 pm
There were a number of Mk XI Valentines used as DD's of course and some went to Russia along with many of the similar Mk X's but I believe the majority were issued to Archer equipped anti tank batteries. They were not really issued as command vehicles or Observation posts in the normal sense of the word: they did not contain map tables, extra radios etc as of course there was no need to plot and report the indirect fall of shot! The term for them at the time was 'officers chargers' (charger is used in the sense of 'horse' in this case.) The battery commander drove around in it, spied out good ambush positions and also offered a degree of all round high explosive and machine gun self defense cover which of course the Archer could not. All of this with the same performance, same fuel and same spares as the Archers themselves. They were indeed operated by the Royal Artillery but I suspect that the driver was a Royal Armoured Corps man on loan. Not certain of that but that certainly happened with the Royal Marine Centaurs on D Day and the Royal Engineers bridgelayers so it is probably true of the Archer batteries.
As you are only about 30 miles away, you can certainly come and have a look at my Valentine DD and my other vehicles. It will need to be a saturday as they are on someone else's farm and the nights are drawing in now! I put my email on this blog when I send messages. If you can see it, email me direct and we will make arrangements for you to visit. If you can't retrieve it, let me know in a message and I will risk putting my email in the body of my next message and getting innundated with spam!
Cheers
john
- - Pureteenlard
  - 13 Oct. 2007 @ 04:35:08 pm
  Alas! i can't see your e-mail, so, to avoid you getting spammed up, I'll give you mine. It's Pureteenlard@hotmail.com.
  
  I should love to come an see your tank but I've got weddings to attend over the next two weekends and I'm on call the weekend after that! Sheesh! No wonder I never get anything done . . .
  
  Anyway, if you can contact me at the addy above, I shall rely and we'll try to work out a day that you're free and I am not working or watching a mate getting hitched.
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- John Pearson (Visitor)
- 18 Oct. 2007 @ 07:39:42 pm
Email sent
Cheers
John
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- Pureteenlard
- 24 Oct. 2007 @ 10:27:58 am
Sorry, John, but I haven't received anything. This happens with AOL and comcast users and possibly some other ISP's. Hotmail's anti-spam software is a tough for some users to penetrate! So, if you could try again with peter.arundel@peek-traffic.co.uk I'd really appreciate it.

Pete.
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- john pearson (Visitor)
- 26 Oct. 2007 @ 10:24:26 pm
Email sent
Cheers
John
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Suspension
by Pureteenlard on 17 Aug. 2009 – 10:23:43 am
Set backs . . .
by Pureteenlard on 03 Apr. 2009 – 09:27:36 pm
Tracks
by Pureteenlard on 13 Mar. 2009 – 10:38:25 am
Power!
by Pureteenlard on 05 Feb. 2009 – 11:04:12 pm
Suspension and things . . .
by Pureteenlard on 24 Jan. 2009 – 06:25:20 pm
Despite appearances Things Have Happened.
by Pureteenlard on 31 Mar. 2008 – 06:53:22 pm
The real thing!
by Pureteenlard on 14 Nov. 2007 – 07:45:26 pm
Update. things have been done and I haven't told you . . .
by Pureteenlard on 14 Nov. 2007 – 07:27:28 pm
Hands that do dishes
by Pureteenlard on 28 Sep. 2007 – 07:51:36 pm
More on return rollers.
by Pureteenlard on 26 Aug. 2007 – 06:48:23 pm

22 Comments to Making a start

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